Patriots' Caserio says NFL draft is a poker game

FOXBORO — At this date on the calendar, the NFL Draft is usually a fait accompli. Right now, the Patriots would be prepping their first-year guys for rookie camp.

TIM WHELAN JR.

FOXBORO — At this date on the calendar, the NFL Draft is usually a fait accompli. Right now, the Patriots would be prepping their first-year guys for rookie camp.

But we're still waiting on those rookies.

Under the new schedule, the NFL Draft will not be until May 8, a three-day event that ends a full week after the Kentucky Derby.

The new date won't change the Patriots' approach, according to vice president of player personnel Nick Caserio, who spoke Tuesday at the team's annual pre-draft press conference.

"I think it's really how you utilize it. I would say we're not really doing anything differently," said Caserio. "Has it given us a few more weeks? Maybe, but I would say just generally speaking, it really hasn't had much of an impact."

Caserio has worked in various roles with the team since 2001, acting as the Patriots' personnel director since 2008. The draft boards won't change based on the date. The team just has more time to tweak and tinker with who they have their collective eye on.

But Caserio wasn't about to dish out specific clues in a process he admitted could be akin to a poker game.

"There's so much information floated out there," he said. "The reality is, nobody really knows other than their respective teams."

This year, there are 98 underclassmen who have declared for the daft, the largest number in history. Asked what he believed to be the defining characteristic of the 2014 prospect pickup, he started with the early entrants.

"I'd say the underclassmen are a huge part of it," Caserio said Tuesday. "There are certain positions, like there are every year, of strength. The receiver position is a deep group. There's a deep group of running backs. I'd say there's a deep group of defensive linemen that are different types of players."

There will be 256 players selected. How many end up with the Patriots is anyone's guess, and it's a number that can be changed at any time during the draft. The team has only 65 players on the roster at the moment, meaning there are 25 spots to fill, whether it be through the draft or free agency.

"Ultimately we're trying to find the best 53 that fit our team so that ultimately in September when we go out there ready to play, we have that group of players," Caserio said. "Realizing that there might be another group of players that aren't on the roster but at some point, like the Josh Klines, who start the season, they come in, they're not drafted, they work hard, they start the year on the practice squad and ultimately they put themselves in position when they take advantage of their opportunity."

Kline, an offensive guard, was undrafted out of Kent State before going from the practice squad to seven games of action with the Patriots.

But the free-agent signings, those happen away from the three-day draft spectacle. The Patriots are slotted to make eight selections next week, including two each in the fourth and sixth rounds and none in the fifth round (they traded their fifth-round pick to Philadelphia for since-released Isaac Sopoaga).

In terms of picks on the first two days, the team has one selection near the end of the first round (29th overall), followed by a second- (62nd overall) and third-round (93rd overall) selection.

Last year, after going into the draft with just five selections, the Patriots turned that into seven players, with the big deal coming in the form of four later picks from the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for the Patriots' first-round selection (29th overall). They also did not select until picking Southern Mississippi linebacker Jamie Collins in the second round, 52nd overall.

"You just try to find guys that fit your team," Caserio said.

That includes not passing on a player who might help at a position like wide receiver, regardless of the fact that the Patriots took two a year ago in Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce.

"I think what you don't want to do is pass on a good football player regardless of your circumstances," he said.

That includes the possible replacement for Tom Brady, who is going into his 15th year in a Patriots uniform. The Patriots have brought in top QB prospects Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater and Jimmy Garropolo for visits, a process Caserio said is "really no different" than in years past.

"I think right now our focus is just on the draft and trying to improve our team," Caserio said when asked about possible QB succession plans. "We'll go through the offseason program once we have the players that are here. I would say we're focused on the short-term."

So what's another two weeks? The later date perhaps means nothing more than a potentially warmer day for the draft to be held.

Or it gives more time to the stuff happening outside the Gillette Stadium walls.

"Maybe it gave Bill (Belichick) a chance to run the half marathon over the weekend which maybe he didn't mind," Caserio quipped. "Whenever the draft is, whenever they tell us it is, then we'll be ready to go for it."

Tim Whelan Jr. can be reached at 508-626-4402 or twhelan@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @thattimwhelan.